Letter tray



May 17, 194 R. L. GALLAGHER LETTER TRAY Filed Dec. 2, 194a IN VEN TOR. Ric/m r Ga/A Zef BY Patented May 17, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LETTER TRAY Richard L. Gallagher, Erie, Pa.

Application December 2, 1946, Serial No. 713,523

4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to letter trays and more particularly to novel means in letter trays for lifting the ends of paper therein for easy grasping thereof.

Letter trays heretofore have been plain, open rectangular box members and it has been difiicult to remove paper from the bottom of these trays, especially thin copy paper. When thin copy paper and other paper have been removed from these trays, it is usualy crumpled and perspiration from the fingers usually marks up the papers and makes them appear unsightly.

It is, accordingly, an obj ect of my invention to overcome the above and other defects in present letter trays and it is more particularly an object of my invention to provide a letter tray which is simple in construction, economical in cost, efficient in operation, and economical in manufacture.

Another object of my invention is to provide means in a letter tray to remove papers from the bottom thereof without crumpling the paper.

Another object of my invention is to provide means in a letter tray to lift the ends of papers upwardly therein and permit grasping of the ends of the papers by the fingers of the hand which moves the lifting means.

Other objects of my invention will become evident from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a perspective view showing an illustration of an embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 3 is a view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 4 with the tilting means in a position to remove papers from the tray;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of a modified form of my invention.

Referring now to the drawings, Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, show a rectangular box-like letter tray I having an open end 2 for receiving a right angled tilting member 3 pivoted on cylindrical extensions 4 journalled in apertures 5 in the sides 6 of the tray I. The lower portion I of the tilting member 3 is disposed adjacent the bottom 8 of the box-like tray I and the upright portion 9 is in substantial alignment with the end portions I0 of the box-like tray I and forms one end of the tray I. The tilting member 3 has an out- 2 wardly extending lip I I adapted to be engaged by the back or other part of a hand. The lower portion I of the tilting member 3 is comparatively longer than the upright portion 9 so that the upright portion 3 normally will be in a vertical position as shown in Fig. 2.

In operation, the back of the hand is pressed against the lip II of the angular member 3 and it is forced outwardly to a tilting position as shown in Fig. 3. A paper I2 in the bottom of the tray I has one end thereof lifted as shown in Fig. 3 and the fingers of the hand then grasp the end of the paper I2 and remove it from tray I. The lower portion 1 of the angular member 3 brings the upwardly extending portion 9 thereof normally in substantial alignment with the end portions II] of the tray I. It will be evident from the foregoing description that much time is saved in that it is not necessary to fumble and crumple the papers in removing the papers from the tray and much valuable time is saved in that with a quick slip of the back or other part of the hand, the end of the paper is raised and is immediately grasped by the fingers of the hand. Because the lower portion I of the member 3 extends substantially the width of the tray I, the entire end of a paper is lifted, thereby preventing any misalignment or disformation of the sheet.

A modified construction is shown in Fig. 5 in which the tray 2I is cut-away on the bottom 22 thereof at 23 and angular member 24 pivoted at 25 has the lower portion 26 thereof covering the cut-away portion 23 of the bottom 22 of the tray 2|. The bottom portion 26 of the angular member 24 has a lip 2'! for overlapping the bottom 22 of the member 2I which may be designed so as to be flush with the bottom 22 or it may be entirely eliminated. The upwardly extending portion 28 of the member 24 has an arcuate shaped lip portion 29 for engagement by the back or other part of the hand. The operation of this modified box is the same as that described above. that is, the paper is raised by placing the back or other part of the hand against the arcuate lip portion 23 of the member 24 and forcing the lower portion 25 of the angular member 24 upwardly whereby paper can be grasped by the fingers.

Various changes may be made in the specific embodiment of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof, or from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A letter tray comprising two sides, an end, and a bottom with one end thereof struck out, a substantially right angled member having the vertical side thereof forming the other end of said box-like member and the other portion of said right angled member forming a portion of the bottom of said box-like member and being disposed in the struck out portion thereof, and means for tilting said right angled member.

2. A letter tray as set forth in claim 1 wherein the upper end of said vertically extending side of said right angled member is struck outwardly.

3. A letter tray comprising an open box-like member having a bottom, three sides and one open side, a substantially right angled member having the vertical portion thereof disposed. in said open side of said box-like member and the horizontal portion adapted to be parallel to the bottom of said box like member, a struck-out portion on the upper end of said vertically extending portion of said right angled member for engagement by the hand of a person, and means for tiltably mounting said right angled member. 4. A letter tray comprising an open box-like member having an open portion in one end thereof, an angled member disposed in said open portion having a fiat side thereof adapted to lie parallel with the bottom of said box-like member, a struck-out portion on said angled member extending outwardly from said box-like member adapted to be manually engaged to tilt the flat side of said right angled member parallel to the bottom of said box-like member and means for tiltably mounting said angled member.

RICHARD L. GALLAGHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,029,096 Wolf June 11, 1912 1,290,750 Huseby Jan. 7, 1919 2,122,158 Segal June 28, 1938 

